harpist

Originally hailing from the Shetland Islands, Sophie draws influence from her traditional roots but also harbours a passion for contemporary music, ranging anywhere from Berio to Bowie.

Since graduating with a first class honours from the Royal Northern College in 2016, Sophie has enjoyed a vibrant and diverse freelance career. As a soloist, Sophie has had the pleasure to perform all over the country at venues including the Theatre Royal in Nottingham, the Byer’s Theatre in St. Andrew’s and Manchester’s Whitworth Art Gallery and at the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival.

She was also featured as a soloist on BBC Radio 3’s ‘In Tune,’ programme, has twice been finalist and runner up in the innovative Future Blend projectand most recently, Sophie was the recipient of the 2018 United Kingdom Harp Association Award. Sophie was also honoured to be a finalist in the Royal Northern College of Music’s Gold Medal competition, the highest accolade the college awards for solo performance.

As a versatile orchestral & ensemble player, Sophie has collaborated with a number of different musicians - Some personal highlights have been performing Berio’s folk songs, playing as part of a big band, being Principal harpist of the RNCM Sinfonietta whilst performing at Cantiere Festival in Montepulciano, Italy and performing Max Richter’s ‘Vivaldi’s four seasons: recomposed’ with Cosmo Strings at Malta International Arts Festival. She was delighted to be asked to perform for Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond when he and his cabinet were making an official visit to Shetland.

Based in Scotland, Sophie is currently creating an exciting new venture which marries global cultures and musical influences in her project, ‘Notes From Shetland to Shanghai.’

If you think harps are only played by angels or elderly ladies in ballgowns, think again